Sookie's Revelation
by Meg2
Summary: Follows "From the Beginning" Spoilers for all 8 books and Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Sookie Stackhouse Series is the creation of Charlaine Harris. Don't sue me Charlaine! I love your books.

A/N This story is told partially in flashbacks but begins two weeks after "From the Beginning". Still not happy with it, so please be kind…

Sookie's Revelation

I.

I awoke in a tangle of sheets, with a cool, heavy arm thrown at an angle across my bare breasts and waist. It was completely dark in the room, the few candles having burnt out hours before. I glanced over at the digital clock and was amazed to see that it read 11:48 am. I couldn't remember the last time I had slept this late, unless I was sick, or shot or beaten up. Sleeping this late was the ultimate indulgence to me. Of course, staying up until 4 or 5 am kind of made your likelihood of indulging yourself a bit greater. I had been getting by on about 5 hours of sleep a night for the past week. I shifted Eric's arm gently then realized I was being silly. I couldn't get used to the idea I wouldn't wake him without serious effort. It was rather amusing.

I got up and switched on a soft light on the nightstand. In what was becoming a regular occurrence, I glanced around looking for my garments. Eric seemed to delight in undressing me and tossing my clothes around with complete abandon. I had to say he was quite a bit more skillful than Bill however, as he rarely ripped or damaged anything of mine. But then he knew convincing me to accept replacement clothes, or really anything as a gift, was a significant challenge. It was maddening that, in spite of taking extra care, this man still could get me out of clothes faster than they must be able to change models at one of those runway fashion shows.

After locating my slacks, my sweater, my shirt and panties and finally finding my bra tossed in a far corner of the room, I piled them on the corner of the bed. I padded over softly to Eric's side of the bed and needlessly pulled the down comforter over him. He was on his stomach, his arm still stretched out toward where I had been only moments ago. It was a king sized bed and it looked as if he must have pulled me toward him, on his side of the bed before he 'died', as they called their falling asleep. That really touched me. My heart just swelled when I looked at him. I stroked his hair into some semblance of order, kissed his cold cheek. I walked back and turned out the light, then padded out of the room, closing the door firmly behind me. The hall was dark but I made my way toward the other end, and opened the door of what I was still having trouble calling "my room."

Two weeks had passed since my great-grandfather's visit and the moment when I could finally admit out loud that I really loved Eric Northman. In that time I felt like my entire life had changed gears. I still wasn't used to the changes. After putting my dirty clothes into the white wicker basket, I pulled open the dresser drawer and set out a pair of jeans, t-shirt, and fresh underwear, on the bed. Then I opened the bathroom door to head toward the shower. Eric's bathroom was epic. I joked that it was larger than my bedroom at my house. Although there were no windows (and I was quite thankful for that, considering some of our goings on in this bathroom) it was luxurious, warm and inviting. It was, other than "my room", one of the only rooms in the house without red. Soft dark veined peach marble complimented the dark wood cabinets. A huge peach marble tub with whirlpool jets was in the center of the room, sunken into the floor. The glass-walled shower, which was easily large enough for two, filled the wall opposite the bathroom's long counter and twin sinks. There were mirrors everywhere, just in case I wasn't getting enough of a view of what we were doing together in the shower or the bathtub, or... I was certainly getting a lot of interesting exercise these days, I thought with a smile. I wasn't too used to that, either.

After showering off, I toweled myself off with towels that were made of the softest black cotton. I glanced at myself in a mirror, noting that it was hard to see even the slightest mark on my body. I still had a slight bruise on my left outer thigh. I actually think I got that one at work, though, bumping into something. Eric was very determined not to leave any marks on me. I got the feeling that he didn't want me to resemble a fangbanger in any possible way. I sighed. To this end, I was getting doused with at least small amounts of his blood every single day we were together, but there were also the somewhat larger doses, not applied to my skin. And these, I thought looking at myself, were my biggest concern. I shook my head and thought I really didn't want to think about it right now. But I knew I was going to have to face it. And soon.

I walked back into my room, got dressed and after glancing back at the door to be sure it was closed, I carefully slid a dark glass panel back from one of my windows. Sunlight filled a swath of the room and I sighed with the pleasure of it on my skin. Outside, the day looked a bit gray but there was sunshine. The snow was gone, but it still looked chilly. I didn't have to be at Merlotte's until 5 pm today, and I could envision just sitting here in the light, in my armchair, reading a book and listening to music on my new bright red iPod. Eric and the gifts. Of course, the iPod was from Eric but he _claimed_ it was actually my Christmas present so I had trouble refusing that one. This room, however, was something else. I plopped into the soft blue and white chintz covered chair and swiveled around to look at "my room". With three books now in the bookcase, it was becoming more mine. I glanced around a the soft sky blue walls, soft white wooden furniture, white and blue drapes and upholstered chairs, and the most beautiful bed linens that I'd ever seen. The white silk bedspread was embroidered with blue and pink chrysanthemums. Laura Ashley, Pam told me. She was careful to inform me that _Eric_ chose everything. The entire room was Laura Ashley. And it was a big room. I had gasped the first time I'd seen it, two weeks ago. My thoughts went back to the night my whole life started to change and how I had ended up in this room.

After Niall had left and Eric and I had had several hours of frolicking, Amelia and Octavia had returned around 10:30 pm to the house. They were pleased to find that I was not in tears, and was, in fact, all smiles, watching _An America Werewolf in London_ on TV. I was bundled up in what Eric calls the most hideous quilt in Louisiana, looking snug, with Eric's arms around me. He loved it when I jumped because of scary scenes and would laugh at me. (It was rather funny, considering I was sitting in the arms of a six foot four inch vampire, when you think about it.) After the movie finished I asked Amelia and Octavia about what they had sensed pervading the house when they had returned from their holiday travels in early January. Although Eric had got the gist of it the day before from Amelia, he was interested, as well.

Amelia told me from the moment she drove onto the property on January 1 that she sensed something was wrong, and she thought at first that someone might have tampered with her wards. I was fast asleep, and she had thought it rather odd to find me in my bed at 2 pm in the afternoon. She put it off to being a nap because of my working a late night New Year's Eve bash at Merlotte's. She proceeded to check her wards, all of which, surprisingly, appeared intact. Try as she could, she could not find the source of cool energy that she felt all over the property. It seemed to extend out much farther than her wards, as she noted when she walked around at the edges of her coverage. She was concerned enough to phone Octavia. After a few suggestions, she decided since the wards were intact, that she would await Octavia's return to look into things further together. I arose around 4 pm and she had noted that I was not quite myself. I seemed moody and distant but unwilling to talk about anything much. We made dinner, watched a movie and then I stayed up late reading.

When Octavia returned the following day, she was dismayed to be sensing exactly what Amelia had felt. She described it as a "dampening field" that extended almost half a mile around the house, which frankly, she thought was next to impossible to even conceive of, because of its size. Over time, they managed to get the idea that Niall had been there over the holidays, and initially they thought that the "field" might be serving a good purpose. It was fading, slowly. Octavia was amazed at the magic necessary create such a thing and the fact that it had originally likely been much stronger. They got less impressed over time, however, since I got more and more moody. Maybe it wasn't Niall but some malevolent person? Since they didn't know who to ask about it, they simply started deconstructing it. It took several days. When the field finally dropped, my mood went with it, into an immense downward spiral. They really didn't know what to do then, or who to talk to about it. Octavia had actually gone to stay with several witches in Shreveport in order to brainstorm the situation when I went into my big depression. Amelia was beside herself, but felt odd saying anything to Eric about it when he called because she didn't know if Eric was part of the reason I was upset and she also didn't want to admit they'd taken down this big energy field around my house and it had made me worse. By the time she talked to Pam a few days later, everyone seemed to know something was very wrong with me. She confided a bit in Pam, but then bailed by the dusk and took off with Tray. She felt really guilty about that. But she said that in the end, she trusted that Pam, and especially Eric, would get it sorted.

I learned about the events following my departure from Fangtasia from Pam, who was amazingly, for a vampire, loquacious on the subject. (Yes, loquacious was my word of the day, January 22.) I found out that Eric had marshaled the troops, after practically reaming Sam for not having told him right away when I started acting oddly. I now know that he had actually had Sam watching over me for months, in repayment for the Charles Twining bartender loan. Eric was unwilling to accept Sam's reasoning that I'm my own person and he wasn't going to mention every little concern to Eric. Then Sam had pointed out that the last time he called Eric when I was upset, about Calvin Norris, that Eric had got me upset and I was already crying and he didn't want to make things worse. Pam said that Eric kind of went ballistic at that point and said some "rather harsh things" to Sam. Eric's still not too forgiving about it. Sam has fallen all over himself apologizing to me about it since, though.

So Pam had culled just about every interesting phone number off my cell phone when she had my purse that fated night and she had programmed them all into Eric's phone while I was sitting numbly on Eric's office couch, drinking ginger ale. After I left, Eric had called Amelia and Bill right away, making arrangements so that I would not be left alone. After talking to Amelia and then considering my overall state, his suspicions immediately turned to Niall. He was certain that whatever had happened was fae in origin and Eric was determined to get it fixed as soon as possible.

Eric called Claudine, who was dismayed by the description of my emotional state and said she would check on me immediately. She popped over to me in Bon Temps and found there really was a "serious_"_ problem. She was totally dismayed that she had had no idea I was "so bad off" according to Amelia. When she had seen me right before New Years Eve she had come to the bar and I was busy working and she just thought I was just stressed by my customers. I still try to envision how bad off Claudine must have thought I was if she thought it was _serious_. There was that time I almost got killed in a Were pack war, for instance, which she'd barely blinked at. Anyway, she called back Eric to say that I really needed "treatment" and that the problem was indeed magical in origin and that it would take her just a bit of time to "cook something up". She was heading back to Monroe. She mentioned that the whole house felt odd to her. She discreetly suggested that maybe they ought to ask Niall about what was going on. Well, he now had Niall's contact number straight from my phone.

According to Pam, Eric contacted Niall, met him nearby and proceeded to have a horrible argument with him and had even gone so far at one point as to shout that _if he ever wanted to come near Sookie again_ he had better reveal what he had done immediately to Claudine so she could get to fixing it. And furthermore, he had better damn well show up at the house the following evening to _apologize to Sookie_, explain it and undo any remaining effects of whatever the hell he had done. He told Niall not to even bother going to the house, or near me, until Eric himself was there with me, and that only Claudine was to go near me until then. Pam relished telling me that she had never, in the entire time she had known Eric, seen him quite so angry and _not_ kill someone. And so angry over something done to a _human_! He was so angry in fact, that she had to gently ask him to leave the bar later because it was bad for business and he was even scaring the staff. The _vampire_ staff. I cannot imagine how mad a thousand year old Viking vampire could get. I really don't want to think about it. I have to say though, that when Pam told me about it later, I was rather miffed that Eric seemed to think he could keep me from seeing Niall if I wanted to. But it made me even more impressed with how calm Eric managed to stay the following night when speaking to Niall in front of me.

That following night, it seemed so many things changed. I felt happier, I felt secure. Eric and I loved each other. I'd say I felt completely happy and secure for about eight hours.

And then, my world started falling apart.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The Sookie Stackhouse Series is the creation of Charlaine Harris. Don't sue me Charlaine! I love your books.

Sookie's Revelation

II.

After listening to Amelia and Octavia speak, Eric quietly told me that since I had the next couple of days off, it might be nicer to go to his place, so that we could be "more comfortable". I could see his point. The walls were relatively thin and my vampire hidey hole had always been a tight fit for Eric. I didn't want to be apart from him right now, and I did have the time off. So, still filled with the mirth of Claudine's care, I agreed, packed a few changes of clothes and off we went, driving back to Shreveport.

I fell asleep at some point, but was roused by Eric's unbuckling my seat belt and a cool kiss on my lips.

"Lover, wake up!" he said, while nudging me gently.

I awoke and got out of the car and looked at a nicely appointed two story house that even in the dark looked quite stately and beautiful. I have to admit that I was very excited and curious to see how Eric lived. Sleepy as I was, I took all of it in eagerly as we entered. After the locks, and the alarm system and a small foyer, I focused on dark wood bookcases filled with books, cranberry leather couches and chairs, muted warm charcoal gray walls. We passed through the living room and toward the stairs. He guided me up the stairs, carrying my small bag, and opened a door.

"Your room, Miss Stackhouse," he said quietly.

At first I was just so puzzled by the whole thing I didn't really look into the room. I looked up at Eric and actually wondered if he was saying that we would still have to sleep in separate rooms even if we were together? After all, he'd slept in a regular bed in Rhodes. Then I looked into the room and gasped. The room was huge. The room was beautiful. And the room had very obviously been decorated with a female occupant in mind. Looking around, I half wondered if it was really Pam's room and she had been told to stay elsewhere. Then I remembered that I'd been to Pam's house last year, and so far as I knew, she was still living there. I was speechless. So of course I smiled.

"Sookie, I hope you like it?" Eric asked.

How could I not like it? It was gorgeous. And I told him so. "It's so beautiful, Eric!" He smiled warmly. I could feel the warmth and pride just spilling over into me.

After putting my bag on the dresser, he took my hand and led me back down the other end of the hall and showed me his room, which was windowless. Eric's room was dark, black and red, and the only room I'd seen thus far with anything personal on the walls. He had a large antique map of Scandinavia on the wall across from his bed. There was long broadsword hanging on another wall. I immediately made a mental note to ask him where he had lived as a human. Where his home had been? And the sword. How long had he had it? I realized that I really knew so little about him in some respects. I looked at the huge dark wood bed. It looked like ebony. The sheets and down comforter were dark red. I wondered if he always slept here, or if he also went to ground as Bill had called it. There was so much to learn about him.

He led me back up the hall to show me the bathroom, which also opened into my room. I thought it was a thoughtful touch since humans usually have much more use for the facilities than do vampires. The bathroom was huge, and so beautifully done. Eric smiled down on me.

And then, it all went south.

"…_wonder how long before I can get her out of Bon Temps… to quit that damn job… get her away from that fucking shifter… "_

I gave a small gasp, but Eric thought I was just delighted with the bathroom. I, on the other hand, was remembering a certain passionate kiss, in the midst of lovemaking. I was kissing Eric, and tasting his blood. I remember thinking at first that I had cut my tongue on his fangs, but having had Eric's blood four times now, I was really sure it was his blood and not mine. We'd kissed for a while. And now I was reading Eric's thoughts. I felt lightheaded. Eric picked up on that immediately, and swept me into his arms.

"You're tired, my Lover. You should rest for a while. With me." He smiled gently at me and carried me off to his room.

My clothes were off in a flash, as were his, and he held me close to him in bed. In spite of my brief panic only moments before, I just felt so good lying there in his arms. I felt so safe, so loved. I felt as if a tide of love and lust swept over me. We held each other for a time but resting did not last long.

Later, while lying in bed with Eric, I kept thinking to myself that it had to be random. I mean, I had read or heard his thoughts twice before. And after I'd had his blood the fourth time, in Rhodes, (I counted mentally- the maenad attack when I bit his finger, the bullet, the time in Jackson, the time in Rhodes) I had even heard Henrik, and flashed on Gervaise. Okay, so maybe it was random. But it was also true that I had heard Eric before I'd ever had his blood. I'd heard him after I'd had Bill's blood. Eric's blood was powerful stuff compared to Bill's. So now here I was, with a fifth dose of Eric's blood and I had heard him again. This was not good. But really, it just had to be random.

I reflected upon the fact that the whole reason I had started dating Vampire Bill, as they called him at Merlotte's, was precisely because I _couldn't_ hear his thoughts. The peace and quiet around a nice vampire's mind was wondrous. I treasured it. It made dating feasible. I didn't _want_ to hear what my boyfriend's thoughts. Because sometimes they thought hurtful things, or things that would make you mad or unsettled like your leaving your family home and quitting the steady job you've had for the past five years. Okay, I had to tone that one down. I couldn't say I'd be surprised that Eric thought these things, although I was none too fond of how he was referring to Sam. The point was, I really didn't want to hear this stuff.

Irrelevant, I thought to myself. The very _least_ of my problems.

Beyond the whole issue of whether I preferred dating someone I couldn't hear there was the very practical issue that _vampires don't want me to hear them_. My hearing a vamp mind was a security leak to them. It was a risk to their elite world of often vicious plans and politics. It was… simply terrifying.

Okay, I thought. Random, totally random. A little bit of blood, and it was just a coincidence. Happened before, who cares if it's once in a while. It doesn't matter.

Two nights later, in the middle of making love, I again tasted Eric's blood in my mouth while kissing. I pulled up cold, in the middle of the best sex one could possibly be having, and said "Eric, I think you bit your tongue!" The reply chilled me.

"My Love, it's an easy way to give you a dose of my blood. It can keep you strong, and healthy. It will also slow down your aging, so that I can keep you with me as long as possible. It's just a small amount."

The issue of the aging problem was one that I had been trying as hard as possible to just ignore for now. Whenever I started thinking seriously about the whole relationship, even excluding the fact that I had heard Eric two days before, I was very worried about where this whole thing would go if we stayed together for a long time, since I'd obviously grow old. But it seemed Eric had that scoped out. I trembled remembering what Quinn had told me in Rhodes. That having had so much of Eric's blood made it easy for me to be turned. Between worrying about being telepathic with vampires and now worrying about being turned, I simply froze.

To Eric's credit, he stopped and asked me what was wrong.

"Lover" he whispered close to my ear, "I sense you feel afraid. Why?"

Grasping at the less objectionable of my two fears, I came halfway clean.

"Eric, I've had so much of your blood in the past two years. I just… I worry about it. I worry that…" I hesitated here. I truly trusted him, but part of me really did have an immense unspoken fear that at some point Eric would try to turn me. He loved me, and I was mortal and that meant guaranteed loss. At the same time, so few vampires stayed with their makers, that turning me would still seem to guarantee loss. As bad as it would be for me to die and lose Eric, the idea of somehow eventually losing Eric through having been turned, repellant as that already was to me, and being immortal without the man I loved at my side would be a thousand times worse.

Eric looked into my eyes intensely. "Tell me what you're afraid of," he said, insistently, but still gently.

I broke my eye contact with him and swallowed slowly, part of me savoring the residue of him in my mouth. Alright, I'll have to bite the bullet on this one I thought.

"I… I get afraid you'll try to turn me Eric. I just… I think about it and it frightens me."

Eric looked at me a moment, and rolled away from me, onto his back. He seemed almost to sigh. Then he rolled back onto his side and stared at me.

"To be honest, perfectly honest Sookie, I have thought of it. But I know you do not want to be vampire. I will never betray your trust. If you do not want to be turned, I will not do it." He sounded somewhat emotional saying it, speaking with a touch of an accent.

I was shamefaced. He was capable of being so much more honest than I was in that moment. Where was all the twisty treachery of vampire fame?

He felt my hesitation and added "I wouldn't let anyone else turn you either. I promise you."

And then the boom dropped.

"_How did Sophie-Anne do it, I wonder? She kept them all. They loved each other. She and Andre truly loved each other. How did she do it? How could I ever risk turning her anyway if we could end up [feelings of revulsion] like Bill and Lorena?_

I suppose another woman, with perhaps less experience with vampires, would have been focused on content. _How could I ever risk turning her anyway?_ I, on the other hand, was focused on the more than slightly panicked telepathic end of the problem. I had just heard my love, Eric Northman, thinking in clear and complete sentences, as if he was speaking out loud, _right at me_.Complete with feelings accents, thanks to our lovely blood bond.

Completely hating myself, I sighed, imagined ice water in my veins, and put my head on my vampire's chest and said simply,

"I love you, Eric. I love you."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: The Sookie Stackhouse Series is the creation of Charlaine Harris. Don't sue me Charlaine! I love your books.

Sookie's Revelation

III.

We had worked out an agreement with respect to my work schedule on the fifth day. Felipe had forwarded my funds for the Rhodes conference the day before. Eric didn't see why I needed to go back to work. I had my money. I look back on it now and think of how incredibly tolerant of me Eric can be at times. He's clearly not used to anyone arguing with him about anything.

We had argued for hours even before getting to his office. Eric had tried really hard to convince me to either get another job in Shreveport or simply not work for a while. He even showed me the LSU Campus in Shreveport's website in the office. Go to college he said. I had to admit, the thought of going to college, even if just starting online, was tempting. But I was not about to quit my job of the past five years because my boyfriend of five days asked me to. I think Eric actually broke something he was holding when I said that. I was getting too angry to pay much attention to it and I was resentful of what really felt like his trying to control my life. It's a good thing the bar was so noisy outside that office.

What had started out as a simple discussion about work and living arrangements was turning into a pitched battle. I tried to calm down, so that maybe he would calm down. When he was calmer, I was able to ask him why he was so upset with the idea of my returning to Merlotte's. I was safe there, with Sam, in my small hometown, where even if they thought I was crazy, I was _their_ crazy girl and those same people had saved me more than once. They'd staked Charles Twining after pulling him off me, for instance. Bill lived there and had protected me again and again. And Sam protected me. He was a great boss.

Basically, according to Eric, it came down to this: "I'm angry at Sam. He didn't do what I asked him to do. I don't trust him. I don't like any brand of shifter in the first place, but he seems to think he owns a piece of you."

The language in Eric's head was far stronger. I guess he was still rehashing some of the "rather harsh things" he had had to say to Sam the night I was such a basket case at Fangtasia. I tried to shield myself from this stuff. It wasn't pretty. There was also the overlay of ownership, _mine_, on the whole thing that I couldn't quite grasp.

Sam was probably really my best friend. He'd known me for years, loved me as I am, had protected me when I needed it and had even been willing to accept my dating not one, but now two, vampires, and he didn't particularly like vampires. But he accepted that I did.

I tried the easing the jealousy angle first. Eric was extremely possessive and I was beginning to see clearly (or rather hear it) that it wasn't really just the _mine_ issue with him. It seemed beyond the whole vampire _mine_ thing. Maybe he was really possessive in his human life, or maybe it was a deeply embedded cultural thing for him. I couldn't say, but I also couldn't stand it right now.

"Eric, he's my best friend. He knows I'm in love with you. He's probably known it even longer than I've known it. There is simply nothing for you to be jealous of, and you're sounding jealous. He does own a piece of me. He's my _friend_. He's never said a bad word of you, except in your presence, that time about Calvin. He's always been so supportive, even when he disagrees with me. He gave me all this time off so I could sort things out with myself, with _you_."

"Sookie, he gave you all this time off because_ I told him I was going to rip his fucking throat out and feed him to my staff_!!! I could have lost you because of his not telling me what was going on with you. He has been repaying his debt to me over the loan of the bartender by watching you for almost a year. He's done a _rotten_ job of it! He let you get involved in that damn Were pack war, and then he let you get practically suicidal because of Niall's 'little mistake'." He then continued on in his head. Again, not pretty. Still not very fond of Niall, either it seems. Ugh! The visions… But now I was drafting off of his anger.

"Eric, Jesus Christ! Charles Twining tried to _kill_ me! You sent him a bartender who tried to KILL ME! Sam owes you _nothing._ And he didn't LET me do anything, I CHOSE to go to help Alcide and Patrick because it's a _free_ country. And don't you _dare_ speak about Sam that way to me!"

It was obvious this was _not_, absolutely _not,_ making things better. I got that idea in part because Eric was now standing over me at his full height with his fangs almost fully run down, practically growling, while his eyes bored holes into mine. For once, I didn't need to be a mind reader.

I tried evasion by completely changing course. I'd take a positive position. I _was_ going to work tomorrow.

"Eric, we need to stop this. Can we just go home soon? It's late. We can have fabulous makeup sex, but I have to work lunch tomorrow so I have to be in Bon Temps by 10:45 am, dressed and ready for work. I want to be asleep by 5 am."

"I don't want you to work for him, Sookie. _I don't want you to_." Cold, cold voice. Arms crossed, fangs down, head shaking, sapphire blue eyes with flying sparks.

I swallowed hard. Damned if I was going to let _my lover_ intimidate me out of going to work in the morning. "Well, Eric, with all due respect, I'm going to work at Merlotte's until _I_ don't want to work at Merlotte's and I can tell you right now that you're getting me mad enough to make me want to sign a contract to work for Sam for the next damn _year_! I've never liked your telling me what to do, and so it shouldn't be a surprise to you that I still don't like it _now_, either."

I had to pull way back from his mind at this point because there was a whole lot of stuff going on in there that showed precisely why I did not want to be able to read my boyfriend's mind. I was getting slightly better at shielding his thoughts, but I still got some of it because I had come to the conclusion that as vampires go, Eric was probably one strong broadcaster.

I paused for a moment to think about the fact that I was actually _arguing_ with a vampire. A rather large one, at that. Maybe there's more to having some fae blood than I realized because the human side of me should have been scared as hell. Maybe I was just too mad about my job situation to be scared.

We continued like this for another 2 hours or more. I did not get to sleep by 5 am sharp, but I did arrive on time at Merlotte's, dead tired, har har. The only reason I even bother revisiting the entire scene in my mind is because Pam knocked on the door at that point, to bring something in to Eric. As she swept by me, I was stunned to hear,

"_Well, you got to give her credit. She really is as crazy as they think she is over in Bon Temps… I'm surprised he hasn't killed her. But she's right, she does better when she's happy."_

Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! Am I just _cursed_?!

On the positive side, Pam gave me the key. I really _do_ do better when I'm happy. And that was one thing that Eric just couldn't argue about. After hours of arguing, I simply turned to Eric in bed (and we hadn't even made up yet) and asked him if he truly wanted me to be happy or not.

We finally settled on my early days having me coming back to stay with him in Shreveport and my late days having him come to Bon Temps, with days off in Shreveport. I would let him completely light proof my bedroom for the time being and he could renovate the house to create a safe and reasonably spacious dark space, as well as soundproofing some rooms, installing an alarm system. He would let Amelia and Octavia ward his house in Shreveport, including strong wards against fire, since I still hadn't gotten over the burning of that vamp house near Bon Temps.

Eric said I was the most difficult person he's ever had to argue with because he couldn't just kill me. He said that the strongest reason he could think of for not ever turning me is that he wouldn't want to have any one around for eternity with him who could argue as much as I did since that he'd just be punishing me for decades at a time and he'd hate that. I tried to laugh it off.

So I told him I loved him. And then I teased him by calling him Mr. January, which made him laugh.

We made up.

Meanwhile, back in the darkest corner of my mind, I was holding out hope that I could only read Pam because I could read Eric and she was Eric's child. Maybe Bill would come by to say hello when I worked a night shift. Part of me wanted to see if I could read Bill. I knew I absolutely couldn't before. I needed to know how disastrous the situation was. Because Eric was clearly _not _planning to stop providing me with a healthy dose of his blood, as he'd just done it again only an hour before. Continually having to shield and parse everything to make sure I really heard it out loud rather from Eric's head (and now Pam's?) would be exhausting. I was used to it with humans, but this was much more serious business. For the past two nights I had been avoiding the Fangtasia vamp staff entirely out of fear for what I might find in the crowded bar with all those many voices and the fear I'd slip and make a mistake.

But most of all, I wondered how much longer I could keep this from Eric. Even more than my worries about what he might do or say, I felt in my heart that I was betraying his trust in me. In the midst of all my happiness and feelings of real love, I felt sad keeping something so important from him. He had once said to me that I needed to improve my sense of self-preservation. Perhaps I was. But I wasn't liking it. Or liking myself.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The Sookie Stackhouse Series is the creation of Charlaine Harris. Don't sue me Charlaine! I love your books.

A/N- This is a really short one, sort of like a vignette. I couldn't merge it into the final two.

Sookie's Revelation

IV.

Sam informed me when I returned that I would be working only two nights a week, on weeknights no less. Well, that just stinks because tips are better at night and best at night on the weekends. I asked him why and he just stared at me and shook his head.

"Sookie, you got what you wanted, right? Sometimes, what you want is not what you think it is," he said in a somewhat annoyed tone of voice. His meaning about the source of my new schedule was all too clear.

"Sam, Pam told me that Eric was really unpleasant with you. I'm sorry."

"Pam told you he was _unpleasant_?"

"Well," I said squirming internally, "she told me Eric said some rather harsh things to you. I'm so sorry, Sam. He was very upset."

Sam just stared at me and shook his head. "Sookie Stackhouse, I swear sometimes that you haven't got a lick of sense in you. I really hope that you know what you've gotten yourself into," he said sharply. He turned on his heel and walked away back to the storeroom.

It felt, in spite of my lack of sleep, good to get back to work, to my own little corner of the world. Customers told me that I looked better after my "vacation", but that I still looked tired. If they only knew… Sam gave me a couple of odd looks through the day, but no more sharp words.

Later that afternoon, just as I was getting off, Sam called me over and gave me a hug. He told me quietly that there were just no words to convey how sorry he was that he'd let me get so bad off. His eyes conveyed that he truly felt terrible about the whole thing. He said that next time, he'd be the first to call Eric and Claudine if he thought something was not right with me. It seemed that Claudine had visited him while I was off, and while she hadn't exactly given him a piece of her mind, she'd lectured him a bit and provided a contact number. I'm sure that went over much better than Eric's tirade had. Claudine just had that soft touch. Unless you were attacking her, of course.

Two nights later I was working late and Bill came in at 11:30 pm. He looked my way and I nodded toward my station. He sat down and without even waiting for him to order it, I heated a bottle of O neg. I brought it over to his table and he looked at me with a somewhat sad gaze.

"So, Sookie, I promised Eric I'd come and look in on you and be sure you got home alright." He looked as if something about the request had pained him. I could just imagine what and how Eric had told him about this little responsibility.

Even though I knew that Bill had had no choice in the matter, I was grateful to him. "Thank you, Bill. I really appreciate it."

"So you're doing much better it seems. Though you do still look tired at the end of the day," he said with a gentle smile.

As I readied a reply, like a whisper across the ether came,

"… _never gonna set it right now, he'll never let her go. Maybe it's better. Maybe he truly makes her happier…."_

I literally jumped and almost dumped my tray on the floor. Bill glanced up at me oddly.

"Sorry, I _am_ really tired. I guess I kind of faded there for a minute." Good save Sookie, good save, only it doesn't look like he's totally buying it. Damn, Bill knows me too well for some things! Faded out, indeed. I smiled my usual empty brained barmaid smile at Bill and excused myself. I glanced back at him and he was giving me the oddest look.

_Shit!_ I really just did get _all_ the luck, didn't I? I still had another 30 minutes of work to get through in spite of this latest little revelation. I thought about what Bill had said. It made me sad for him. He loved me, but was sounding quite resigned to my loss. Probably for the best, considering.

I gave Bill another True Blood and he continued to act ever so slightly odd with me. I tried very hard to act as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. Before we left, I even had a cup of coffee and sat with him a minute to talk to him briefly about some historic preservation on the Bellefleur Mansion.

When I got off work, Bill silently rode home with me in my car and kissed me chastely goodnight on the cheek as I walked toward the house. As I watched him melt into the cemetery, Eric seemed to have appeared on my porch. Keeping track of Bill, I suppose, and likely the reason for Bill's abrupt departure before I even was in my house.

It was easy to put aside my latest concerns as soon as I felt and saw Eric. I was so happy to see him. I hugged him, burying my face in his chest and enjoying the feel of his chin rubbing the top of my head. I closed my eyes and soaked him in. Looking up at him, my heart just swelled with pleasure. We went inside and I showed him the light proofed windows in my room and Amelia told him that she had warded the room so that only he and I could enter it and that nothing could penetrate the light shielding without the ward's release, a release to which he had to agree. I was still a bit nervous about the safety aspects when I was at work, although Amelia would be home and the alarm system had been installed. Part of me couldn't believe that he was so trusting of me, and of my friend. More than a thousand years on this earth, I thought to myself, and calmly putting himself into my safekeeping yet again. I chided myself, thinking that his wasn't well placed trust in at least one small respect. It really hurt me to think this way of myself.

I spent another night lying in the arms of the man I loved more than anything. In more ways than one.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: The Sookie Stackhouse Series is the creation of Charlaine Harris. Don't sue me Charlaine! I love your books.

Sookie's Revelation

V.

So here I was, two weeks in, still trying to avoid facing my demons. I felt I was getting to the end of the line on that account.

After two weeks of reconnaissance, I had arrived at several conclusions. After having enough of Eric's blood, I could read any vamp. In fact, I was beginning to think when I looked at trees and birds and rocks, that I might even be able to get something off them. I had noted that the older a vamp was, the stronger a broadcaster they were likely to be. It made sense. Older vampires were stronger vampires. Eric was easier to read, for instance, than Pam who was easier to read than Bill.

Reading a younger vamp was a subtle task. But I could do it. For instance, I knew that Felicia thought I was attractive but totally freaky and couldn't see what on earth Eric and Pam saw in me. She was, in fact, still rather afraid of me, and being afraid of a mere human unsettled her deeply and made her quite mad. But she was far more afraid of what Eric and Pam would do to her if she so much as looked at me the wrong way. Clancy, on the other hand, who I had always thought really disliked me intensely, seemed softer on me that I suspected. I had flashed on that fact one evening when he was reflecting on the fact that I had rescued so many of the LA vamps in Rhodes and that even if I wasn't vampire, I was certainly the most useful human he'd ever met. He was puzzled too over the fact that from what he had seen, I actually seemed to like some vampires, genuinely _like_ them, more than some humans. "_Stupid human, really stupid", _he thought to himself._ "For most of us, you are simply a meal_." I had to say I knew he was right on that last part.

I knew that Eric, Pam and Bill loved me, each in their way. Even _Pam_. That was a shocker. I was the closest thing she had to a female friend since she was human and had a best friend and her sister. Pam still wasn't over the whole Rhodes thing when I had helped save her, and as much as she thought I could be a liability, she had to admit that I was also a tremendous asset. She truly trusted me. I thought that was as close as Pam was going to get to loving someone. She had been asking me to do more to help her around the bar, in subtle ways, almost behind Eric's back. She had me sit with her when she interviewed new waitstaff and had me talk to a waitress who was continually getting on the wrong side of the vamp staff. I was surprised to find that she really looked forward to my visits to the bar. She seemed to admire the fact that I tried very hard not to be bad for business and didn't get all upset when fangbangers threw themselves at Eric. She liked that about me.

So now I sat in my comfortable chair, in my beautiful room, steadfastly not reading and not listening to music, contemplating these many thoughts and recent memories. The sun was coming out a little bit more and the day was clearing. I couldn't quite motivate myself to go outside though. I had spent more time in this house than my own in the past two weeks. It seemed as if Eric was determined to have it that way. My schedule seemed to guarantee that I was going to be in my own home only two nights a week. I sighed heavily. Maybe Sam had been right about not quite knowing what I had gotten myself into. After feeling that I had won a small victory by getting Eric to agree to my continuing my job at Merlotte's, it turned out to be almost a _Pyrrhic_ victory (January 24) since he had dictated to Sam exactly what days and hours I was to be working. Sometimes I had the feeling that I was now living in a very lovely, but very subtle cage. I wondered to myself if all relationships had some element of this, irrespect of the nature of the lovers involved. Would I really be any freer with a human man, I wondered?

There were things about Eric that seemed so incredible to me. Subtle things. Things that to me, just took my breath away. When I awoke on the morning after my first night in his home, I was hungry and went down stairs wondering if there was anything to eat in that kitchen of his. I found a far more functional kitchen that what I was used to in my limited experience of vampire homes (Bill's, Pam's). I opened a pantry cabinet to see a box of Special K, and one of those cartons of 2% milk you can store on the shelf. My regular cereal. My gosh. I saw raisins and wheat thins and tomato soup. Exactly how did Eric manage to get all these details? About something that he doesn't even do, but would be important for my wellbeing. Eric, ever the master of the grand gesture, also never missed the _details_. The bathroom had a tube of my Ultrabrite toothpaste. Even though Eric would never get cold, the house was at a warm seventy degrees, presumably because I was in it. There was quilt, newer but prettier than mine at home, on the couch across from the TV. When I had complained that I needed to go home to wash clothes, a washer and dryer, top of the line, appeared the following day. But still, while part of me was touched, part of me also realized it was an aspect of a campaign to keep me close to him. Just as he had said he should that afternoon before Niall came.

I reflected, as I tried to reconcile all the love I felt for Eric and all the resentment I felt for his trying, however skillfully, to completely control my life, that I was getting to a point where I really felt almost comfortable in the situation. Eric, too, seemed to be adjusting to the fact that he should pick his battles with me. When Alcide Herveaux had called me several days before and told me his sister Janice would be in town soon and that he was slammed with work and would really appreciate it if I could have lunch and go window shopping with her on my day off, I glanced at Eric who glowered over the fact that I was talking to Alcide at all. I really liked Janice so, of course, I said yes. When I told Eric about the plan, I felt him stiffen a bit, but he nodded and then even recommended a pretty café I could take Janice to. And when Remy Savoy called me just to touch base and I talked to Hunter (in more ways than one), Eric seemed to accept it when I told him that he was Hadley's ex and that he was getting married and was just keeping me posted and letting me talk to Hadley's little boy. It was family. He got it.

So in two weeks time, we had covered a huge amount of ground. And yet, more than ever, I felt like I was now standing at the edge of a cliff. I was edging closer and closer to going over that cliff day by day. Two weeks before I was miserable because of a magical accident. Now I was miserable because I was a liar. There was no magic in that at all.

I sighed. The clock on the pretty white nightstand said 1:30 pm. Eric would probably be waking around 5 to maybe 5:30 pm at the latest. I had to make some choices and had to face that internal music. I picked up my cell phone and reluctantly called Holly.

"Hey, Sookie, what's up?"

"Holly, I have a big favor to ask of you. Could you possibly cover for me tonight? I'm really sorry to ask so late, but I'd really appreciate it."

"Well, I didn't have anything planned. I guess I could get Hoyt's mom to babysit. Okay, sure. I know you wouldn't ask if you didn't really need it."

"You're the best Holly. Thank you so much. I was actually supposed to start at 5 rather than 4:30 pm. Thank you!"

I called Sam and explained.

"Please tell me there is nothing wrong, Sookie…." he said with trepidation in his voice.

"I'm fine Sam. I'm fine. There's just something I have to do, that's all."

I ate. I showered and blew dry my hair. I did my nails. I watched the clock. I waited apprehensively, almost willing the clock to slow down. Part of me just trembled inside. What would Eric say? What would Eric do? To me? With me?

I really just couldn't go on the way things were. No matter how scared I was of the consequences, it wasn't as bad as living a lie with someone I loved.

At 5 pm, I crawled back into bed with Eric. I was wearing an oversized T-shirt and little else. I kissed his cheek. I brushed his hair back from his brow. I laced my warm fingers into his cold, long ones. And I waited while my heart just pounded. 5:10 pm. I sighed heavily. I'd really felt so safe with Eric for so long. It would really be an immense disappointment if he had to kill me or something like that. Everyone would be shocked. All my friends, and even Claudine liked Eric at this point. Claudine liking a vampire really spoke volumes, although she said she'd never want to be in the same room with him for very long. Maybe if I stopped having his blood it would just fade, right? After all, after that brief time in Rhodes, it had stopped. 5:20 pm. Geez he was sleeping in today. I was sure it must be pretty dark out all ready. I kissed his hand, which was tightly clasped in my own. My heart started racing again. Gotta stick to it, I told myself.

"Aren't you going to be late for work, Lover?" rumbled a voice in the darkness.

I jumped. How long had he been awake?

"I asked Holly to cover for me," I replied. My heart was ready to just explode in my chest.

Eric didn't say a word.

I trembled, but kept holding his hand.

"Eric, I…" I sighed a trembling sigh. "I need to tell you something. Something important."

Silence. Boy, he was making this really easy, wasn't he? Total darkness, not able to read his face at all, not saying anything at all, feeling nothing but cool calm across that bond.

I paused. I felt like I was about to explode. I resisted any temptation to get into his head and read how he was taking this…

"Sookie?" He stroked my hand.

"Eric, I…" _I'm a lying piece of…_ I thought to myself. Steady… Okay, I'm gonna just have to say it. No way around it.

More stroking of my hand. Damn! I wish there was a little more light in this room so I could see his face. I knew he could clearly see mine with those piercing blue vampire eyes of his. Just the dim light from the digital clock for me.

"Eric, I really don't know how to tell you this, but I have to tell you this. Ever since I started having more of your blood… No, wait, that's not exactly true either. Shit!… Ever since I've _had_ vampire blood, sometimes I have been able to read things, hear things, see things, in vampire minds. Little flashes. Sometimes. Occasionally. But since I started having more of _your_ blood, the situation has gotten a little more… intense." Damn, my voice squeaked at the end.

With a voice as cool and calm as could be, Eric asked "What do you mean, Lover?"

I trembled. There was the slightest edge to the way he'd said "Lover".

Booming across the airwaves came the thought,

"_TELL ME WHAT YOU MEAN."_

I drew in a sharp breath, not knowing what to say. If I thought my heart was pounding before, now it was like that Edgar Allan Poe story. _Did he already know_? Was he just totally pissed because I wasn't really stating what I needed to say? Eric really couldn't stand it when I started going on and on with an explanation.

I really felt scared now. I had only seriously been scared of Eric once or twice in the entire time I'd known him. But I had never felt so vulnerable.

Eric repeated, "What do you mean, Lover?" with a little less edge to his voice.

I was just postponing the inevitable. I'd have to tell him. I might as well just do it.

"Eric, I've had flashes into you since I came to the bar because of Long Shadow. I had one then, then another one after Dallas. I've had flashes into other vamp minds too. After I had your blood in Rhodes, I _heard_ Henrik thinking about Sophie-Anne. I could see flashes in Gervaise's mind. It went away quickly. I wasn't trying to do it at all. It just happened, and it stopped. But now…." I trailed off.

"Now?" asked the cool voice in the darkness, connected to the vampire that was gripping my hand a little bit tighter.

I felt my entire chest constrict. "Now, Eric, it's become a serious problem. I… I can read you, if I try, and Pam, and Bill, and Felicia, and Clancy, and that creepy dancer with all the weird tattoos and… I try not to, but I can. And I really think I should stop having your blood because I need to see if it will just stop. I promise I'll tell you the truth. Please, just let me try to see if it will stop."

After a short pause, came the cool reply, "_Why_?" with an oddly accented inflection.

At this I pulled away and turned on the bedstand light. I simply could not endure another single moment in this dark room, with a man who could see me better than I could see him, and even if it meant the last thing I saw was the man I loved ripping my throat out, I was going to look at him while he did it.

I glanced back at Eric. His head was resting on a red pillow and his hair was spread out a bit around it. He looked totally… calm. _Calm_? He knew! He _knew._ He _had_ to have known. And for some time, to have been this calm about it.

"Eric, are you telling me you _knew_? Since when? And why aren't you angry that I didn't tell you two weeks ago?" I felt a chill run up my spine.

"Well, first, I'd have to say that I'm pretty impressed that you didn't try to bail," Eric said quietly. "Given your history of handling things when the going gets rocky, I'm gratified that you didn't just run. It's quite gratifying, actually."

My mouth was open so wide, Gran would have said I could have caught flies.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: The Sookie Stackhouse Series is the creation of Charlaine Harris. Don't sue me Charlaine! I love your books.

A/N- Readers should remember that the vampires of Charlaine's world are complex and multifaceted.

Sookie's Revelation

VI.

Eric turned on his side toward me and propped his head up on his hand. He brushed some of my hair out of my face and tucked it behind my ear. He laced his fingers back through mine.

"Sookie, I knew in Rhodes. That's why I stood behind you when you talked before the Pythoness. I wanted to protect you, just in case anyone suspected. Although what I could have done, practically speaking, in a room full of vampires, many of whom were as old as I am, I don't know. _That_ would have been an interesting fight. I wasn't sure it would keep happening but I thought it likely that it might. I was sure after our conversation about whether I'd turn you. And it's been a dead giveaway that, anytime I think anything bad about Sam, you get so mad."

Eric stretched and got up out of the bed.

"I'm going to have a Blood. You're probably too upset for me to have you," he said with a smile.

Not too far off the mark, I thought, since a few moments ago I was envisioning him ripping my throat out.

He pulled on a black t-shirt and a pair of boxer briefs. He walked around my side of the bed and extended a hand to me.

"You should have something to eat, Lover. When you get stressed you seem to just lose sight of eating. That's another reason why turning you might be counterproductive," he said, "It's supposed to be the other way around, you know," and then he laughed rather heartily.

We went downstairs and sat silently at the table in the kitchen for a while. He drank a bottle of O neg, and I had cheese and crackers.

Finally, I couldn't stand it. "Can you tell me why this is okay with you, Eric? I mean it's like a disaster to me, so I'd really like to know how this is okay with you."

Eric stretched in his chair. He regarded me coolly. "Sookie, I don't see why it's a disaster to you. You've had two weeks and you're already able to pretty much control how much you "hear", or whatever it is you do, to a good extent from what you're saying. You've been pretty discreet, although I think it's possible that Bill may know, since you've had his blood. It may be safer to use Bubba in future for watching over you near home."

I remembered the odd look that Bill had given me. Could he have been aware? Had he sensed me in his brain? I remembered with a chill that Hallow had been able to do so.

Eric was now leaning toward me, with his elbows on the table and his fingers, interlaced, extended toward his eyes. He stared at me with those blue, blue eyes. Sometimes what was beyond them just seemed unfathomable. It was almost as if he was challenging me to read him. But I would not.

After a pause, he said "Bill's never given you the credit you're due, Sookie. He has always seen you as a simple and uncomplicated creature. I, on the other hand, appreciate you for all you are. For all you can become."

Well, that was a little ominous…. And part of me actually wondered if this expansion of my "gift" had been part of Eric's plan all along. I wasn't really liking this part of the plan. I reflected back on the past two weeks and began to realize that I had been so hopelessly naïve. What had I been expecting? A fairy tale? I have the feeling that I haven't even begun to see the full consequences of my choices, my desires, much as Sam had warned me. But part of me knew that there was no going back from here.

"If you knew, why on earth would you put me into that position, by sending Bill, where he could possibly figure this out, Eric?"

He regarded me intently for a moment, as if I was finally starting to ask better questions.

"It was a safe way to find out if someone else could sense it. If he does know, Bill will never harm you Sookie. I'm sure of that. And he will tell me if he knows."

"Does Pam know?" I asked hesitantly.

"I'm not sure," said Eric thoughtfully. "I'm inclined to say no, because you haven't had her blood, as you have had Bill's or mine. But Pam is so sharp. She may suspect. I'd be less than honest if I didn't tell you that the fewer people, especially the fewer vampires, know about this, the safer I can keep you. You really shouldn't tell _anyone._"

"Eric…"

Eric looked at me with his head tipped slightly to one side. I looked at his meltingly blue eyes and sighed.

"Do you still love me? Do you forgive my not telling you before?"

He leaned back in his chair for a second and then leaned forward again, elbow on the table, with his chin in his hand, looking at me intently.

"Sookie, I've loved you for quite some time, and I really don't think I'm going to stop loving you because of something that, frankly, I can see as nothing but making you even more useful and interesting than what you already were." He felt the strange response that I had to this little statement and tried readjust himself.

"Sookie, you have to be realistic. I love you. I'm in love with you. I have not been _in love_ with anyone, quite possibly ever, in my long life. I have very much wanted you in my life. I was always attracted to you and you offered a set of skills I very much valued. But along the way, I grew to really love you. To be willing to take risks for you, risks that I have never been willing to take for another human. Risks I might not even take for most others of my kind. Time and time again, you've shown me in every possible way that you're worth taking those risks for, Lover.

"But I am still a pragmatic man, Sookie. In addition to loving you, you're an incredibly precious and valuable asset. Your skill set, and your status among various groups makes you all the more valuable and fascinating. This latest wrinkle could prove very useful. You look at all the events you've seen in the past two years as huge upheavals. When you have lived as long as I have, they are merely bumps in the road. The big events, the real wars, you can have no idea of. I hope you never do. But what you've got is a powerful tool, an advanced warning system, a means of keeping us, and those you love, safe. You need to learn to use it with skill, and control yourself when you see things that shock you, so that you will never give away your hand."

Well, that was a lot to take in. In love with me. Valuable asset. Tool. In love with his asset? I cringed. And he was just so calm about it all. This was the side of Eric of which I had been most afraid just over a month ago. My other Eric was somewhere inside this one. That was the Eric that I was concerned I'd hurt by lying by omission.

I stood up to clean up the table. I couldn't really look at Eric. No matter which Eric was having this discussion with, I still felt wrong for having not been truthful with him. Maybe I was closer to being the woman Bill thought I was than Eric realized.

Eric pulled me toward him and into his lap. I looked up into the eyes of the man I loved.

"Sookie, yes, I knew you weren't telling me. But I felt your pain at not telling me _every time_. I felt how you felt about yourself for it. I felt how you love me. I can read you like a book, my Lover. And the fact that you didn't run from it, no matter how scared you were, means the world to me. You cannot imagine."

I was still unsettled but I felt warm and safe in his arms. I looked into his eyes and I saw that he loved me. He kissed me gently at first and then more and more passionately.

Later, looking up at the ceiling in my blue room, I reflected on Eric's ominous statement, about what I could become. The truth had set me free, but to what? I lay in my bed puzzling over this. This world that I had joined so blithely only two weeks before appeared far more complex and shaded now. I was in it for keeps. I would have to find my path in it. At least I could do it with someone I loved, who loved me.

I played with Eric's hands while thinking about it all at the speed of sound. And just as my pulse started racing, Eric leaned over and said softly,

"Sookie, you really have to just stop sometimes, my Love."

He got up and headed to the bathroom to shower. With a mischievous look on his face, he glanced back at me, clearly beckoning.

My heart and I followed him.


End file.
